Through Saigon to Siem Reap!

Bidding adieu to our beautiful resort at Mui Ne, we boarded a bus to Saigon where we were to catch a flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  Saigon was a whirlwind of sights, sounds and color. (First photo below.)  We had a good lunch at Allez Boo and stopped for bakery treats; then, still lugging all our bags (no, contrary to what they told us at our resort, you CANNOT store your luggage at the bus company's office) we did a quick geocache in a Saigon park!  Linny, the least experienced geocacher among us, found the microcache quickly and easily. 

Arriving in Siem Reap, a town several hours north of Phnom Penh, we took a cab to the Golden Dynasty Hotel.  In the morning, after a good breakfast at the Two Dragons Restaurant across the street from our hotel, we met up with An, the cab driver we had negotiated with to drive us to and around Angkor Wat that day.  (See photo of Michael and Linda with An.)

Angkor Wat amazed and awed us.  This huge area of temples was originally built to be a Hindu place of worship around 1100 A.D., but eventually expanded to become a place for Buddhists to worship as well.  Ankgor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, was never "lost", therefore never "discovered".  It was known and used for worship continuously through the ages.  It came to the attention of Westerners when a Portuguese monk visited in the 16th century.  In more recent times, various countries, including the U.S., recognizing the value of preserving this treasure, have contributed financially to its reconstruction and upkeep.  Michael had us begin our tour at the Phnom Bakheng temple, to be found by following the "dangerous elephant path"!  From the top of this temple, we were able to see a beautiful panoramic view of many other temples.  Each temple we visited was more amazing than the last.  The hugeness of the buildings and intricate relief stonework boggled the mind when one thought about how long ago this was built, and without benefit of modern tools or transportation.  One of the photos below is an attempt to share the weird, almost unworldly look of a temple overtaken by nature.  Trees wrapped their roots around the ancient stone formations, almost as if they were attempting to eradicate man's work.  This photo was taken in the area in which the Angelina Jolie movie, "Lara Croft, Tomb Raider" was filmed.

Performing local music for visitors on their walk to the temples was a band made up of surviving landmine victims.  These brave men, who lost legs when they stepped on still-active landmines, were a stark reminder in this ancient place of the grave problems with which Cambodia continues to struggle.  They were a wonderful example to us of the amazing resiliency of the human spirit.

After a long, hot day of climbing and walking around Ankgor Wat, our driver, An, took us back to town where we enjoyed, of all things, an excellent Mexican dinner followed by Swensen's ice cream for dessert!  Then, it was time to retire in preparation for our next day's journey to ...